Trick and Treats
by Richan MMI
Summary: Halloween's here and Dumbledore wants to celebrate it the Muggle way. Insanity ensues. A little SSHP adventure in romance.
1. Part 1

Title: Trick and Treats

Author: Richan

Pairing: SS/HP (with SB/RL)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Insanity. Lame jokes. A little sappiness. Totally OOC for pretty much everyone. Basically inspired by the fact that Halloween's almost here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry, Severus, or anything else you recognize.

Archive: Let me know where, and I'm pretty sure I'll say yes.

Harry kept an eye on Dumbledore as he rose in the silent Great Hall. It was the start of the new school year, and other than having his daily struggle with Snape in Potions, Harry's seventh year was off to a great start - Voldemort was long gone, and other than a few crazy Death Eaters who'd been there when Harry blasted the Dark Lord to oblivion, everyone was pretty much happy with the situation.

With that in mind, Harry didn't pay much attention to what the Headmaster was about to announce. Five minutes later, he wished he'd followed his first instinct of fleeing in terror when he caught the scowl on Snape's face - that should have indicated that the headmaster had completed his descent into insanity.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, his pale blue eyes twinkling as they looked around the Great Hall. "I and the rest of your professors have decided that as a special treat the Halloween Feast will be held in traditional Muggle style, complete with costumes."

Next to Harry, Hermione squealed, deafening both him and Ron, who were, unfortunately, sitting on either side of her. "This is going to be great," she said in a high-pitched voice, which Harry knew boded... well, evil was out, so he decided it wasn't going to be pretty.

Dumbledore shot sparks into the air to gain the attention of the excited students. "There are only two rules for the feast that you must abide by. One, is everyone must wear a costume, and second, it has to be somebody from Muggle culture. As much fun as it would be to see someone here dressed up as myself, it defeats the purpose of this exercise. The professors and I are hoping that this will provide everyone with the chance to explore Muggle culture. Each of you will be able to invite two guests if you so wish, but if they are Muggles, please let me know."

Harry sank down in his seat. At least he wouldn't see Colin dressing up as him, which was the only positive thought to come from the announcement. Wondering just when he'd gotten so cynical, he looked around the Gryffindor table to see various Muggle-born witches and wizards chattering excitedly, while purebloods, like Ron, nodded in confusion.

This was going to be a riot.

******

Severus Snape - Potions Master, ex-spy, and former Death Eater - was sulking.

Oh, it wasn't particularly obvious, but he was all the same.

Severus was NOT happy with Dumbledore at the moment, but he was basically the only one not worshipping the old man since he'd suggested taking a fine tradition of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and turned it on its ear. The other professors thought the man was a genius, but Severus knew that, as with anything out of the ordinary Dumbledore thought of, it was going to be a disaster.

All he had to do was to bring up Dumbledore's idea of the Spring Dance that had almost decimated the school last spring when Voldemort decided it was the perfect opportunity to get rid of both Potter and Dumbledore. Severus had had reservations then, but he hadn't been listened to, and he doubted he'd get anybody to listen to him now.

The only consolation in this entire thing was that three people also didn't like the idea.

Unfortunately for him, they were Potter, Black, and Lupin.

Now it was a week from Halloween and the first weekend in Hogsmeade and he had two hours to find a 'suitable' costume - which Dumbledore had _required_ him to get - and he was getting more frustrated by the minute. It would have been by the second, but only the thought that if he found something truly horrible it would get him out of the stupid thing in the long run made it a little bearable.

Slipping into one of the seedier establishments in the village - which also happened to sell things like Muggle contraband - he was surprised to find none other than the three who were rather reluctantly banded to him in his reservations.

All four looked at each other in shock before deciding to ignore each other. But it wasn't as if Severus wasn't above a little eavesdropping while they were all there.

"Sirius," Lupin was saying. "We'd better be there just in case anything _does_ go wrong. You know that there's still people out there who wouldn't mind getting rid of Dumbledore - "

"I wouldn't mind that at the moment," Black interrupted.

"You're not the only one," Potter added under his breath.

" - and Harry," Lupin finished with a sigh.

Black snorted. "Dumbledore can handle himself. Harry, too."

This time Potter snorted. Severus would have too, but he didn't want to be caught.

Lupin sighed. "Just pick out a costume. If nothing happens, you can say 'I told you so.' Okay, Siri?"

Severus almost choked as Potter said, "We should get together with Snape and see what he thinks of all this."

"As if I'm listening to what the idiot has to say," Black was heard to say before all three moved out of earshot.

Well, well. It looked like Potter could be surprising. He could admit that. He might also admit - under the most stressful of situations only, mind - that the boy had grown up to be a handsome, intelligent young man. Not that he would think of a thing like that.

Would he?

******

Harry sighed as he tuned out Hermione. Hogwarts' 1,093rd Head Girl ("Did you know that fifty of the last one hundred Head Girls were from Muggle families and only 194 total were from Slytherin? It's all in Hogwarts: A History!") was trying to get him to tell her what his costume was.

"It's your duty as Head Boy to set an example for the younger students, Harry," she was saying as Harry rubbed his stomach. Next to him, Ron was giving him an 'If I have to listen to her then so do you' look as he pulled his elbow back to his body.

Throwing his best friend an annoyed glance, Harry turned to his other friend.

"Mione."

The girl turned and looked at him, smiling.

"I love you and all, but please shut up."

Harry enjoyed the show as Hermione's face showed quite a lot of emotions. Finally, it ended on anger as she stood up and moved to the other end of Gryffindor's common room, where Harry's 'unofficial' fan club usually sat. As soon as she was seated, both Harry and Ron burst out laughing.

"Thanks, mate," Ron said as their laughter slowed to a few chuckles every now and then. "If I'd said that, there would've been hell to pay."

Harry smirked. "You're the one who's dating her. You'll eventually have to say it to her sometime."

Ron shrugged and brushed it off, both of them rising from their seats and heading out in the direction of the Great Hall. "So you're meeting up with Sirius and Remus before the Feast now, right?"

The raven-haired boy nodded. "Yeah. My costume's pretty cool, even if I think Dumbledore has more than a few screws loose in having this shindig."

"Sclews?" Ron asked. "Shintig? What kind of things are those?"

"Never mind," Harry said as they made their way through the castle.

******

An hour later, Harry laughed at Sirius as he struck runway-model poses. The normally black-haired man was wearing a silver cloak over a golden robe, both with slivers of black peeking through the fabric, streaks of those same colors running through his hair. Remus was wearing the same outfit, but with green running through the cloth. They were the Feanturi, two of the Valar in Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Sirius was Namo, Valar of the Dead, and Remus was Irmo, Valar of Visions and Dreams.

Harry was wearing a similarly styled outfit with chain-mail down the front of it, the silver color fading into green as it flowed to the floor. His cloak was blue and green, changing with the light to reflect the moods of the sea, befitting Ulmo, the Valar of the Sea. He quite liked his outfit, and by getting them at the tailor who resided at the edge of Hogsmeade, they had been able to avoid anyone finding out their costumes.

Remus had been the one to think of their costumes, he being the only one who'd read /all/ of Tolkien's books. Harry, of course, had only read The Lord of the Rings trilogy when Dudley had tossed it into Harry's room in a tantrum (it had been Petunia's attempt to get the boy to read something other than the dirty magazines she had found underneath the mattress one day while cleaning - it hadn't worked).

"Ready?" Remus asked as he smoothed down his hair. Unlike Sirius and Harry - whose hair was streaked with blue and green and was now as long as his godfather's - he hadn't had to do anything to his hair except grow it to the length of Sirius'.

Adjusting the Head Boy pin on his robe, Harry nodded as they made their way to the Great Hall. Nearing the doors, Harry heard the murmuring of voices and was tempted to slow down.

What greeted him was beyond Harry's imagination.

First at the closed doors were Hermione and Ron. The Head-Girl-as-former-Prime-Minister-Margret-Thatcher was excitedly whispering to Ginny Weasley, who had decided to come as Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. In the meantime, Ron was trying to cover up his little sister with the cloak from his costume. Harry couldn't tell if he was supposed to be Dracula, who technically was from the wizarding world but Muggles had adapted the story, or the Count of Monte Cristo, which novel Harry had found in his friend's room over the summer. He'd have to ask later.

Dumbledore was on the other side of the doors as they opened. The headmaster was dressed as a pirate, his eye patch flipped up at the moment. "Ah, welcome students! Those of you who have guests, please make sure to greet them at the front entrance." He began to usher the students into the Great Hall, which was decorated with streamers, as well as the usual decorations for the Halloween Feast. Like the Yule Ball from his fourth year, Harry saw that there were smaller tables strewn around the room. Finding one near the front, but in the corner, he made sure to sit in the farthest chair from Dumbledore.

"What is he thinking?" Sirius asked as he sat down next to his godson. "Or was he thinking at all?"

Remus shook his head. "I'm not even going to answer that." He sat down and looked at Hermione. "Who are you supposed to be?"

Hermione smiled, before pointedly glaring at Harry. "Margret Thatcher, who was the first woman Prime Minister of Great Britain. She was a fantastic leader and served for three terms!"

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron, who had saved the last two seats at the table once Ginny sat down next to Hermione. "Who're those seats for?"

"Gred and Forge," the red headed boy answered.

Harry groaned and put his head in his hands. "Not them!"

Ron laughed. "Yes, them."

Harry opened his mouth to answer when he saw a figure step out of the door that usually was behind the staff table. His eyes widened once he realized it was Snape. The Potions Master was dressed in black leather, a leafy crown woven through shining black hair.

'Whoa!' He reeled back from the sight. 'Damn, he looks hot.' Harry stopped in mid-thought. 'I did not just think that, did I?'

**

Severus tugged on the leather pants, sure that they were beginning to chafe something important. His search in Hogsmeade had been fruitless until he'd come across an old copy of plays by Shakespeare. Thumbing through, he'd been struck by the forcefulness of the fairy king, Oberon. Liking the idea, he'd then proceeded to find something suitable but then had run into the headmaster, who'd dragged the Potions Master into several stores to find IT. The perfect costume.

Sitting down at the now round staff table, Severus was beginning to forget about the chafing when he noticed several teachers were gaping at him. Sinistra, the Astronomy instructor, looked like she was going to drool. Gratified at being able to surprise his co-workers, Severus looked around the room.

He spotted some of his Slytherins in strange garb and several with what looked to be Muggle weapons. Severus hid his smirk when he noticed Draco Malfoy leading four other boys across the room to take the most prominent table after the staff table. After watching them be seated, his eyes traveled to the corners to see who was hiding. In the last corner he saw Potter's group and was surprised at what he found. And angry. And confused by the feelings Potter seemed to be arousing in him.

The boy's costume brought out the green in his eyes, those awful glasses no longer needed after a botched blinding spell by Voldemort in a last-ditch effort to win. (It hadn't worked the way he wanted it to. Harry had been able to see Voldemort perfectly well enough to erase him from existence.) The blue emphasized the paleness of his skin, while the gold made him look... almost ethereal. It was just too bad that he was wearing the same style of outfit as Black and Lupin.

That also didn't take into account that the Weasley twins were seated at the same table, the two of them dressed oddly in what he would later discover to be plumbers by the names of Mario and Luigi. Both of them worshipped the two Marauders who were still living. _That_ was trouble just waiting to happen.

Wondering when the nice people from St. Mungo's were going to come to take Dumbledore away, Severus sunk back into his chair and prepared himself for an adventurous night.

******

Harry groaned silently as Dumbledore looked out over the Great Hall as dinner ended. He had the feeling he was going to have to dance in front of the entire school, when he seemed to be the only seventh year who wasn't going steady. Or dating. Or even having meaningless, casual sex like Seamus. Or Draco.

Turning to Sirius with a desperate look on his face, he asked, "Can I borrow Remus if I have to dance?"

Sirius Looked at him. "What?"

Remus leaned forward and looked around Sirius at Harry. "Borrow me?"

Harry nodded fervently. "I just know I'm going to have to dance in front of everybody."

Sirius and Remus shot each other glances.

"I'll dance with you, Harry," Ginny said from across the table as Fred and George snickered behind their hands.

Harry sighed. "No thanks, Ginny. You're the wrong sex, remember?" he asked as politely as he could.

The red headed girl slumped in her chair, seeming to remember the humiliation she'd suffered when Harry had revealed he was dating her older brother Charlie. The Burrow hadn't been a fun place to be at this past Christmas. Harry hid his own cringe when he thought of Molly Weasley's response. It hadn't been pretty.

"You can 'borrow' Remus, Harry," Sirius said. "You have to bring him home in the same condition, though."

Remus slapped Sirius and sighed. "I will dance with you if you need a partner, Harry."

Harry grinned at the two men. "Thanks!"

A tinkling sound erupted from the staff table as Dumbledore stood. "I hope everyone enjoyed the Feast," he said jovially. He'd added a fake parrot to his right shoulder, and the bird was hanging limply by one foot while tangled in the man's long, white beard. "We are going to clear some space for dancing, and I'd like for our Head Boy, Harry Potter, and Head Girl, Hermione Granger, to lead their partners in the first dance with myself and Professor McGonagall."

Harry looked at the Deputy Headmistress and snorted his pumpkin juice out his nose. The head of his house was dressed up in a suit with a bra sticking out of the jacket. A pointy bra. 'Madonna is NOT a good look on her,' Harry thought as he resignedly stood, making sure he wiped off his face first. Sending a sheepish smile at Sirius, he guided Remus to the center of the dance floor, trying to ignore the snickering that was coming from Malfoy's table.

"Just follow my lead, Harry," Remus whispered as the music started.

Nodding gratefully, Harry just let himself go.

At least until the doors to the Great Hall opened with a bang. Everybody went still as a tall, blond figure stalked through the door towards the dance floor where Dumbledore was humming with the now cut off music.

"Father?!" Malfoy's dismayed shout got everybody moving.

"I thought he was supposed to be in Azkaban," Harry whispered to Remus.

"I'm pretty sure he was," was the reply.

Malfoy senior ignored his heir as he stopped at the edge of the dance floor, the wizard robe he wore looked as tattered as Sirius' had when Harry had met him at the end of his third year. Holding his wand up high, he began to chant in a strange language.

Ten words in, he was tackled by several Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, including a surprised Neville Longbottom, who'd been standing too close to the action. It was a pity the chant was stopped there, as a bright yellow light leaped from the end of Malfoy's wand and spread over the room. The light touched everyone before seeping into the walls and spreading throughout the castle. As it touched Harry, he felt a strange sensation come over him. It was a feeling of lightness. And power.

Once he regained his sense of balance from the overwhelming sensation, he looked at Remus and saw that he had undergone a transformation. The man now wore a robe of an ethereal silver, along with a matching half-crown in his now completely silver hair. Astonished, Harry looked over at his godfather and found he had undergone a change as well, his robe turning to blackest black, with a crown made of deepest onyx.

As he did so, Harry noticed a weight on his head, and grabbing and pulling whatever it was down, discovered a crown of waves, the water moving gently in some places and wildly in others. Shrugging his shoulders and figuring that this wasn't so bad so far, Harry put the crown back on and walked over to where Malfoy was buried in a mass of wiggling bodies. Unfortunately, Malfoy wasn't enjoying it as much as a perverted mind would think. In other words, he was passed out cold.

"Everybody move," Harry said. He jumped back when he discovered his voice had changed to a deep, booming thunder. 'Cool!' Harry thought, as the students on top of Malfoy moved as quickly as they could.

He turned around and found that not everybody had changed the way he had. From the looks of it, it was if the spell had turned everyone into....

'No. Not possible.'

Harry scanned every single person he could see and found that his thoughts were heading in the correct direction and it wasn't looking good at all.

Each person, whether student or professor or guest, had physically become whoever they had been trying to emulate. In Harry's case, it was a good thing. Looking at Dumbledore, who now sported a wooden leg and was leering at McGonagall-Madonna.... It wasn't a thing he wanted to ever see again.

Sensing someone approaching, Harry turned and found the most gorgeous man he'd ever seen walking towards him. Light, barely-seen wings spread from his back and ivy seemed to grow along his skin and through his black hair.

It was Severus Snape in all the glory of Oberon, King of the Fairies. Who looked angry. And sane. Oo, that was good.

"I told him this wasn't a good idea," Snape said in an even throatier voice than before.

Willing himself not to act like an idiot, Harry nodded and turned to Remus. Sighing in relief when he found the man and Sirius on the other side of him looking at everyone in puzzlement, he looked back over the Great Hall. What he found was disturbing, even more than McGonagall-Madonna flirting with Dumbledore the Pirate.

"Is it just me or are we the only ones who think something's not right," Harry asked.

"It's only us," Sirius said. He plucked at his robes. "Though I'm kinda liking this look."

Remus lightly pursed his lips. "Everybody has transformed into whatever their costume was."

Snape smirked. "In some cases, it's not for the best," he said, pointing at the headmaster who was now trying to kidnap one of the Patil sisters, who had been with their friends and come as the cast of Sailor Moon. Five short skirts plus one horny seaman equals disaster.

"I'd say," Harry quipped. He was looking at Draco and his friends, who seemed to have all acquired sidearms and were now sitting at a table looking over some plans. "Who are they supposed to be?"

"And what about Malfoy Senior?" Remus asked.

Sirius frowned as Snape said, "We'll have to figure out Malfoy first and find whatever spell he was trying to do. The sooner we can reverse it the better. I'm getting queasy thinking about Dumbledore."

The other three nodded in agreement.

**

Malfoy had offered plenty of information once he'd been threatened by his son, who turned into some terrorist named Quatre Winner, and his friends. It seemed the Slytherins had been closet fans of Gundam Wing and now they had five pilots on their hands, complete with Gundams convienently parked just outside the front doors to the castle, as well as various OZ and White Fang pilots who were, even now, at each other's throats.

He'd gotten the spell from some old man, who'd gotten it from some old book rumored to have been written by Slytherin himself deep in his Chamber of Secrets. Since Malfoy had no idea where the man could be, their best bet would be to go into the Chamber and see if Slytherin had left any clues.

"Not another trip down there?" Potter had practically whined. "It was disgusting enough the first time!"

Severus was not amused.

First everything had changed - he'd grown some damn wings - and every once in a while, Oberon tendencies wanted to take over. Such was the case whenever he looked in Harry's direction. The boy had become Ulmo, the Valar who looked over the sea and held all of Arda close to him. Every so often, the crown on his head changed to the color green his eyes were, giving him a mysterious look that Severus wanted to solve. Intimately.

Mentally he shook himself, as the Three Sane Ones tried to come up with some plans, courtesy of the Gundam pilots and Monte Cristo. Personally, Severus thought the look was good on the Weasley boy, but it was rather Gryffindor of him to choose such a downtrodden-to-rise-above-his-troubles kind of costume. Still, the boy's strategic mind was intact - well, as good as it could be with the nonsense that had happened.

Looking over at Potter, he was frozen at the look in those green eyes. It was almost if....

No. Not possible.

Or was it?

Potter could not be looking at him as if he were dessert, could he?

******

Harry watched as something flared to life in Snape's eyes and made him shiver, even as he tried to tell himself that he wasn't looking at the man in a quite hungry way. He'd never thought of it before, but those black depths were filled with much more than the icy, emotional mask that Snape wore around the school. And Order meetings. And definitely around the Death Eaters in the last battle.

Come to think of it, Harry realized that the only time he'd ever seen any kind of emotion in Snape's eyes were when they were looking at him. Him. Of course, Snape looked like a delicious morsel at the moment. Harry knew there had always been something about leather, and Snape made the look the best yet. And this was before the spell had fallen into place.

Now that it had, it was beginning to look like Snape could be the one Harry had been looking for. The man had never been one to fawn over anyone when it wasn't absolutely necessary to keep an evil, Dark Lord off his back. Added to that, once Harry had learned to ignore the occasional taunt at him, he'd found that Snape had a fantastic wit and could actually be quite funny with it. Of course it seemed to be mainly directed at Sirius, but Harry was sure that *that* particular thing could be changed over time. After all, he was pretty sure that Snape had some things about Harry that absolutely drove him nuts.

Not that Harry would mind doing that. Only... in a more intimate manner.

Well.

 Once this spell got cleared up, he'd have to take the time to woo the Potions Master.

**

Severus knew he had a cross look on his face as the four of them made their way down to the second floor girl's bathroom. They'd left the Gundam 'pilots' in charge, along with Weasley and Granger, to keep the peace in the Great Hall. This was mainly to keep Dumbledore and the other questionable characters from seducing anyone younger than him by about fifty years or more - thus keeping the numbers possible down to McGonagall and Trelawny (who'd showed up for the feast, for once, in a tacky dress with fruit on her head).

As they stopped in the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle greeted them with a wail.

"You just want to laugh at me again, don't you?"

Surprisingly, it wasn't directed at Potter, but at Black and Lupin. So maybe it wasn't that surprising after all.

"Hello, Myrtle," Potter said.

Severus felt like he wanted to melt - an unusual feeling for him, but one that was arousing as well, as the boy - man - spoke. The spell had changed Potter's voice to a mysterious bass that sounded like the waves out in the ocean.

Myrtle obvious wanted to as well, as a lavender-coloured blush crept its way across her cheeks.

"Hi, Harry," she squeaked, irritating the hell out of Severus. And making him a little bit jealous. Just a teeny-tiny bit. But he wouldn't show it.

"We're just going through, Myrtle. We didn't mean to disturb you at all," Potter continued as he moved to the last sink and sank to one knee.

Once Potter's, Lupin's, and Black's backs were turned, Severus shot a deathly glare at the ghost who was looking hopefully at Potter. Satisfied when she disappeared with a shriek, he turned and watched as a hiss came out of Potter's mouth and the sink moved.

Potter stood, wrinkling his nose and making Severus shudder. The motion made him want to forget this entire debacle and haul him over one shoulder and make off with the boy. Merlin, would these Oberon tendencies ever stop?

"Ready?"

Severus held back a growl as Potter motioned to the three of them before sliding down into the opening of the pipe. Tossing an annoyed look at Black and Lupin, who seemed to be waiting for him, he put himself in the pipe and let go.

Just when it seemed as if his plummet down the slimy pipe would never end, he crashed into something at the end. In the dim light, he found he was lying on top of Potter, who felt both hard and soft at the same time.

"Professor?" Potter's voice was strangled, and Severus realized just where his knee was. Hastily pulling away, he was almost in an upright position when he was hit from behind. Landing on top of Potter again, this time he was pressed down by the weight of a body on top of him.

"Hi, Harry!" Black's voice rumbled down at the two men who lay underneath him.

"Black," Severus spat out. "Get off me!"

"You can get me off, anytime," came a muttering from beneath Severus. Or at least, that's what he thought he heard.

Moving quickly, before Potter realized that Severus definitely had something in his pocket just for him, he made it to the side just as Lupin made his way out of the pipe. 'Damn,' he thought as he watched Lupin roll off of Potter, 'I wouldn't mind being there right now.'

Severus paused as the others brushed off their robes.

What am I thinking?

******

Harry shivered as they walked through the dingy halls towards the Chamber of Secrets. It felt like yesterday that he and Ron had dragged Lockhart down here in the hopes of rescuing Ron's little sister. Well, maybe not yesterday, but too close for comfort.

Speaking of too close, it was a good thing Snape had moved. Otherwise, Harry would have gotten an earful about disgusting advances made on a professor by a student. Not that Remus hadn't noticed the problem the next second. Okay, _that_ was too close for comfort. Now he'd have to worry about Remus telling Sirius that Harry had the hots for the man's worst enemy after Wormtail.

It wasn't looking good.

That wasn't to say that Snape wasn't looking good. In fact, he was looking more than good. Very good. And tasty enough for Harry to want to run his hands down that black leather that hadn't gotten a bit of slime on it and fingers through luxurious black hair and lips over the smooth, pale skin and ... oh what was he thinking?! Harry shook his head slightly as he reminded himself that they had a job to do, and thinking dirty thoughts wasn't about to help at all, even if he wanted to do things to Snape that were considered illegal in several countries.

The four of them made their way through the rubble left behind by Lockhart's disastrous memory charm - not to say it was really all that bad - and they soon found themselves in front of the main door to the Chamber of Secrets. Harry looked at the snake, its glittering green eyes seeming to put the other three in a brief trance.

"Open," he hissed at the door.

The door creaked a little as it opened out into the darkness of the chamber. Harry moved forward, his footsteps echoing in the vastness of the room. He looked back and saw that Sirius, Remus, and Snape hadn't moved, and all three were watching him with awed looks. Curious, he looked down to see that the robe he was wearing was giving off an eerie glow. Looking back up, he noticed that Remus' clothing were doing the same.

'Well,' Harry thought, exasperatedly. 'As much as I like this new look, I'd rather have my old one back. Even if I do think that Snape is hot looking.'

Mentally sighing, Harry walked back to the other men and grabbed Snape's hand to drag him into the chamber. "Are you guys coming, or what?" he managed to ask before he got sidetracked by the warm feel of the hand inside his.

This was more like it. Now all Harry had to do was to hope that he'd get to feel even more skin a little later.

**

Severus held back a shiver as a warm hand enveloped his. Potter's words went over his head as he blindly followed the warm feelings emanating from the boy's hand. Damn. It was enough to make him take the boy into a dark corner and ravish him.

Hm. That didn't sound too bad.

But no. He wasn't too sure if this was just because of the spell, because there was a part of him that definitely just wanted to take Potter here and now in total disregard of everything, and that part frankly terrified him. He knew that it wasn't exactly a part of him that he ever listened to - at least not since he'd gotten some sense knocked into him by Dumbledore when he'd wanted to join Voldemort.

Oh, bugger that. 

Holding onto the hand a little tighter, Severus pulled Potter up to the wall and shoved his body against the younger man's.

"Pro - ?" Potter managed to get out before Severus managed to plant his lips against his mouth.

Sweet Merlin, but this was *good.* And, surprisingly, Potter was responding as well. *Very good.*

He tasted good as well. Delicious. And more tempting than the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake Dumbledore had gotten him hooked on.

Forget that they had to change the castle back to normal. He'd rather stay here and do wicked, wicked things to the wonderful body moving in a spectacular rhythm against his as Severus ground his lips and tongue with Potter's. Harry's. Whatever the hell the man wanted to be called, Severus would call him if he could keep on kissing the fool.

A rough tug on his shoulder and arm pulled him from the delicious morsel he'd been tasting.

"Get your slimy hands off him, Snape!" Black's rant barely registered as Severus watched Potter lick his lips.

He definitely wanted more, but judging by the foaming of Black's mouth this wasn't the time for it. Actually thanking Merlin for Lupin's presence as the man pulled Black off to one side.

"We can deal with this later, Sirius," Lupin was saying as Potter aimed a wink at Severus behind his godfather's back, making him want to leap back onto him. "Right now we have something more important - "

"Harry is important!" Black shouted.

"Sirius, later," Potter said. His voice had been deepened by emotion, and it only made Severus want to hear it in the heat of passion. Badly. But no, he'd have to wait.

******

Harry waited until the others had turned back towards the direction the doors faced before taking a huge breath.

Merlin, but Snape could kiss! It had been better than the kiss from Seamus that made him realize he quite liked the male form, and much, much better than the one kiss he'd managed to get from a girl back in fifth year, but it hadn't helped matters that it'd been Parvati and they'd been playing truth or dare. 

No, this kiss was like the one he'd seen a movie he'd watched the past summer, where it had seemed to almost light the world on fire.

'Woohoo, boy. I'm definitely going after this one,' Harry thought. 'Especially since Snape is being amenable to it.'

Telling himself to get his thoughts out of the gutter, Harry straightened away from the wall Snape had pushed him up against - no, out of the gutter! - and followed the glows from the other men's wands. The faster they could solve this mysterious spell thing, the sooner he could get to know the Potions Master all the better.

**

"What the hell!?"

Severus stared up at the wall, silently echoing Black's assessment of the statue of Slytherin against the back of the chamber. Walking over, he ran his fingers over the strange markings carved into the stone.

A hissing noise came from beside him as Potter stared at the wall. Of course, the markings were Parseltongue in written form. Definitely a complication that Severus hadn't quite expected, but could see the reasoning behind it. Slytherin would have been shrewd enough for only his heir to be able to read his secrets and to keep the others away. After all, if they couldn't open the entrance, they wouldn't have made it this far.

That didn't include Gryffindors who'd accidentally been given the gift that every Slytherin wished they could have. Especially when the Gryffindor in question had demonstrated more Slytherin qualities than half the house had.

Determining that it would be best for Potter to be the one to search for a clue, Severus pulled back and watched him for a while as he avoided Black and Lupin. At first his thoughts were focused on the intense feelings he'd gotten from kissing the boy - man. Whatever the hell he was at the moment. He was content to watch him for a little while, a tugging at the back of his mind alerting him to the dulling glow that surrounded the man. It must just be his imagination that the robe was slowly changing colors.

Eventually, though, he thought more and more on the consequences of following through on any sort of passion. The part of him that had made it through all the torture sessions with Voldemort as a spy for Dumbledore knew that this could end very badly. Meaning that Severus would find himself on the wrong end of Dumbledore's wand. Or more importantly at the end of Black's. Just as he was thinking that he should just forget the whole thing, no matter how tempting Potter actually was, a shout pulled him out of his reverie.

"I think I found it," Potter shouted happily.

Severus tried to scowl at the man, but all he got in response was a half-smirk that looked remarkably like the one he himself directed at his students. He hadn't realized how sexy it looked on somebody else and how foreboding it was on him. However, he managed to get out a "Do tell, Potter," snarkily enough.

Potter winked in full view of Black and Lupin, and for the briefest moment, Severus could admit to himself that he didn't like the odds he was finding himself in.

"It says here," the man turned to the wall, leaving Severus to mentally sigh in relief as the others' attention was pulled off him. "Slytherin decided that the spell, as he wrote it, wouldn't work. However, from everything that he worked out...."

"What is it?" Black asked when Potter trailed off.

A weak chuckle escaped Potter as his face flushed slightly. "The spell basically only works for about a week. Since Malfoy only got out the first couple of words, it should have worn off by now."

Dead silence.

"Well, that makes me feel pretty stupid," Potter finally admitted.

Severus was tempted to agree, but was happy that he hadn't when he saw Black nod. Then it hit him - whatever he had been feeling just a little bit ago was just as intense as it was ago. Fuck, was he in trouble....

"So, what about that old man that Malfoy said gave him the spell?" Lupin was asking when Severus managed to come back to reality.

"Malfoy bought it," Severus reminded him. "My guess is he was swindled."

Black laughed. "Serves the bastard right." The former wanted-criminal-turned-reinstated-Auror shot a glare at Severus before turning to Lupin. "It's about time to get out of here, isn't it?"

Severus heard a heavy sigh come from Potter, but dismissed it as wishful thinking as they made their way back towards the castle.

**

As soon as the four of them made it to the surface of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and Lupin and Potter had just stepped out the door, Severus found himself pushed up against a wall, imprisoned by two strong hands.

They weren't the hands he wanted them to be. Not by a long shot.

"What do you think you're doing, you sick fuck?" Black demanded, as Myrtle started her wailing at the loud voice.

Severus leveled his best withering glare at the man and pushed him off.

"Why don't you ask Potter the same question, Black?" Severus smirked. "He was obviously enjoying himself down there."

Black narrowed his eyes. "Stay away from him," he snarled.

"Sirius!"

Both of them turned to the door to find Potter looking at them sternly. The green eyes had returned to normal, as had his clothing, but it didn't have much of a different reaction from Severus than the previous one. The man still looked deliciously tempting, even if he was so different than Severus had ever thought he wanted in a partner.

A partner?

This was getting out of hand. Sneering at Black and sending a blank look at Potter, Severus swept out of the bathroom and down to his dungeons, the sound of Myrtle's crying echoing in his ears.

******

Harry slumped dejectedly against the closed door to his room. He'd finally managed to get away from Sirius' ranting over even thinking about Snape, and then he'd ended up being ambushed by Ron and Hermione about the adventures of the night. Now all he wanted to do was to fall into bed and try to forget about everything.

From the way Snape had acted, it was obvious that the man was only acting under the influence of the spell.

Then again, maybe not. From everything he'd ever learned about the man, Severus Snape was an intensely private man who never let on just _how_ much he thought about one particular thing when it was personal. Oh, sure. Everyone knew about his feud with Sirius, but that had been going on for twenty years, and whole lot didn't change in that amount of time considering just who was involved.

Thinking about just how he'd figure out what Snape - Severus, he corrected himself - was really thinking, Harry fell asleep dreaming about hot, sweet kisses.


	2. Part 2

AN: Thanks for the great praises being sung to me ::smacks self in head for having way too much Halloween candy:: I know I should be saving some for the actual trick-or-treating, but it's 3 Musketeer bars and Rolos. I can't resist, even though it tends to make me... well. Nevermind. Here's the story.

Part 2/2

Severus felt a prickling at the back of his neck. Following the instincts that had saved his life more times than he cared to count, he turned around to find an intense pair of green eyes watching him.

This was not what he needed this morning. Not after finding out about everything that had happened in the Great Hall while they were off on that stupid, wild goose chase. And half the culprits involved didn't even remember doing whatever they'd been caught by the Creevey boy's camera.

Determined to ignore Potter, he managed to make it almost all the way through the day without thinking of the man and his kisses. At least until the seventh year Double Potions class of Gryffindor and Slytherin. It was all Severus could do not to stare at Potter.

Finally dismissing them, he sat down in his chair and closed his eyes in relief.

"Severus."

Severus' eyes snapped open to find Potter standing in front of him, the door closed and the room empty but for the two of them. Pulling his mask back on, he snapped, "Potter. Five points from Gryffindor for your cheekiness in addressing me improperly. Now get out."

Potter gave a little smirk - a disturbing image to see when it wasn't in his mirror. The man leaned over Severus as Potter's face hovered mere centimeters over his.

"Severus. We need to talk."

Oh Merlin. Those four words lead to pain.

"No. We don't."

Potter moved even closer, so that the space separating them was mere millimeters. "I think we do," he whispered as he moved the last little bit to brush his lips against Severus'.

Sweet. So sweet. Severus decided to let himself enjoy the moment. Then he caught himself. No, this wasn't what he should be doing.

Pushing Potter aside, he rose and stalked over to the door. "Potter, that's enough! Now get out before you'll be spending the rest of the year with Filch every night in detention!"

A minute later, Severus laid his head against the door, his chest heaving with excited emotions. Sweet Merlin, but he could swear that he'd seen a quite predatory glint in Potter's eyes.

**

Harry restrained himself until he was a couple of hallways from the dungeons. Finding a deserted classroom, he shut the door and, with a quickly cast Silencing charm, let out a whoop of joy. He knew he'd seen something, and just by Snape's... Severus' reaction, it was plain that the man was trying to hide his emotions.

Harry wasn't about to let him.

When he had woken up this morning, he'd decided that he would do everything he could to woo his Potions Master, and by the reaction he had gotten today, the plan was well set into motion.

******

Severus was ready to tear down the walls in the dungeons in frustration. Each class and meal time and any time he saw Potter anywhere in the castle or on the grounds, he seemed to be targeted by those green eyes. They pierced through the tough hide Severus had built up in the last twenty years to protect himself with the ease of a hot knife through butter. And it was obvious the man knew what he was doing.

Those green eyes looked like they were watching him with hunger and want and all manner of things _no_body ever looked at Severus with. He knew he wasn't the best looking man in the world, so why was someone with Harry's - Potter, damnit - looks watching _him?_

******

Harry sighed as Sna - Severus - ignored him. His obviously foolproof plan for wooing the man was going off the deep end very fast.

Well. He had two choices about this. Personally, he wasn't sure if the first one would work, and the second practically assured him a place in St Mungo's, because that's where Ron and Hermione would put him if he asked for their help. So now he was trying to figure out which was the best option to go with.

Option one consisted of sending little notes to the object of his affections, but he was pretty sure that the man would just chuck them into the nearest trash bin and try to ignore him like he was right now. Even though Harry knew, just KNEW that he was getting to Sna - Severus - he was going to have to do something pretty drastic if he wanted anything more than the occasional heated and confused glances he was getting from the Potions Master when he thought Harry wasn't looking.

Which is where his friends came in. Harry knew that Hermione was one of the most brilliant students to have ever crossed the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts, and Ron was a wonderful strategist if his record of winning the last 2,435 straight games of chess he'd played was anything to go by.

There was only one way to find out, and if Harry was lucky, the Memory charm he had studied last night would come in handy if things headed the way he expected them to.

"Ron? Mione?"

The couple in question looked up from their spots on the couch in the Gryffindor common room that they typically made out on after supper. Of course, it being only four in the afternoon, no such activity was going on by the looks of suffering on Ron's face as Hermione had her books spread out over the both of them.

"Hey, mate!" Ron greeted him.

Needless to say, Ron wasn't all that happy when Harry got done explaining why he needed their help.

"Out of your mind, you are," the red head exploded. He shook his head and looked mournfully at Harry. "I don't know what Mum's going to say when she hears you're in St. Mungo's."

Harry sighed and looked at Hermione. The brunette was eyeing him speculatively.

"Mione?"

"Did you shag him yet?" the girl asked.

Harry stared at her in shock. Definitely what he hadn't been expecting. "Well, no."

Hermione smiled at him, totally ignoring Ron's sputtering next to her. "Then do so. He'll get the point then, especially if you do all the things he doesn't think you'll do - " she raised an eyebrow at Harry's confused look. "A nice dinner, maybe a really great gift he wouldn't expect."

Harry nodded. Hermione's advice was running closely to what he'd been thinking. Scary thought, but it might just work.

******

Severus knew he was in DEEP trouble the moment he saw Potter walk through the doorway to his classroom. It was obvious that he was up to something, and Severus had only the time it took to teach the last potions class before the holiday break - the last class in all before the break - to figure it out. It was a lose-lose situation as far as he was concerned. Over the last couple of weeks, he'd noticed that he had quite the dirty, perverted mind Black had always said he did.

Okay, so it was a completely different Potter and he felt _very_ differently about the two. James Potter had never inspired him to think about him in a sexual way. No, that had been mainly ways of trying to get the git expelled, along with his stupid friends. Harry Potter, on the other hand... it might have started the same way, but the direction his mind had taken since Halloween was far removed from what his father could have ever made him think.

Since Halloween, Severus had been torn between continuing as he always had been. It did have its points, in that he had been satisfied - sort of - with the quality of his life. He got to mold young Slytherins and try to keep them out of harm's way and at the same time was able to torment the other three houses for all that he'd gone through as a student. Worked perfectly well.

But now... As much as he liked all of the above quirks of being Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts, something had changed the way he looked at life. In particular, one green-eyed savior of the world who watched him with all the intent of a lion stalking its next meal. Of which he most certainly was the main course.

Oh, it wasn't quite as bad as he'd thought. And he'd _thought_ about it. He hadn't woken up with such wet sheets since he was a teenager, and frankly he was feeling pretty happy that he could keep it up several times a night. Of course, this wasn't taking into consideration that the cause of such feelings involved a certain student who had a wicked tongue and liked to make the most wonderful noises.

Severus' imagination had taken all that it could from that one most wonderful - torturous - kiss and ran away with it.

Eventually came the moment he had been dreading since Potter had walked into the room: dismissing the class. Somehow, he just knew that the man - he couldn't think of him as anything other than a man after some of the steamy dreams he'd been having - would find some reason to stay behind. And that was detrimental to Severus' health. Most certainly.

Sure enough, Potter fobbed off his friends with an excuse and shut the door behind them. Locking it. Sealing it shut with a very powerful Silencing charm. And there was a disturbing twinkle in the green eyes that swiftly approached Severus as he stood, shocked to a standstill, at his desk.

A foot from him, Potter stopped and gave a feral grin.

"Dinner?"

Severus blinked in confusion for a moment. Well. That was different. But it couldn't hurt, could it?

******

Severus tiredly blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He wasn't this tired most of the time, and he didn't understand why. Stretching slightly, all movement stopped when his hand hit something warm and solid and not at all what should be in his bed.

Oh, dear sweet Merlin, what did he do last night?

Slowly, _slowly_ turning onto his side, he was greeted with the peaceful countenance of Harry Potter. The man's even breathing was so totally unlike Severus had ever seen it. The golden-pale skin glowed faintly in the fading glow of the fire, the slight flickering over the features on his face giving a mysterious feeling to the atmosphere.

His eyes moved down to the lush expanse of bared skin on the man's neck. Severus wished for the tiniest moment to taste it before he made himself move on to one of the most beautiful bodies he'd ever seen. Broad shoulders tapered into a slim waist, steel-like muscles stretched over soft looking skin.

Only to be stopped by the waistband of a pair of boxers.

'Why is it a pair, when it's only one piece of clothing?' Severus asked himself in a disjointed manner, before looking down at himself to find that he was wearing his boxers. 'The same pair I put on yesterday after my shower. Good,' he thought.

Or maybe not.

Pieces of last night finally began pulling themselves together to reveal a quite nice evening. Potter... Harry - he was in bed with the man, and even though it didn't feel like they'd done anything physical, he supposed it would be polite to call the man by his first name - had somehow managed to find out all of Severus' favorite foods for a nice, quiet dinner. Then they had spent several hours talking over events that had taken place during the war, sharing a bottle of wine Harry had procured.

It was at the end of the bottle that Severus' thoughts grew fuzzy. He seemed to remember Harry saying something about heading off to bed, but it wasn't coherent enough for Severus to be confident about what had gone on after that.

"Morning," Harry's sleep-roughened voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The sound reminded him of being deep in the Chamber of Secrets. Then it had crawled across his skin and making him itch with desire. Even now it had the same effect, only this wasn't with the aide of a spell. Just Harry.

Severus didn't answer verbally. Instead, he watched as the green eyes slid open to reveal a pleased look. It was like nothing he had ever seen on Harry's face before; it was as if he was smiling in contentment with just his eyes and that he had nothing else to project but that single emotion.

Suddenly Harry's face was getting closer, and it wasn't until he was an inch away before Severus realized he had been the one moving. Blinking, he pulled back. He went to close his eyes when he saw a flash of disappointment and dejection pass through the green eyes across from him. He was tempted to do something to counter it, but knew that would just give Harry the advantage and Severus would not let that happen.

Moving to the edge of the bed and sitting up, Severus heard a deep and sad sigh, just loud enough to catch his attention. Surreptitiously, he looked back at the man in his bed and found a drawn and rejected look on Harry's face. That stopped him in his tracks, as he realized that Harry was being quite serious about this. Even up to five minutes ago, he had thought that this was only to finish what had happened almost two months ago and that would be the end of it.

_That_ was why Severus had resisted, even though he'd been tempted to accept Harry's invitations - blatant or not - to finish that kiss. And now it was looking as if the worrying had been about the wrong subject. Instead of fending off Harry's advances, he should have been trying to figure out a way to follow through the feelings that had been building since Halloween - the warm and contented feeling he gained from talking to the man in those rare moments when he could let his guard down, and those moments when, even in the middle of the crowded Great Hall, Harry managed to send a smile at him, regardless of who might be watching and Severus' reactions.

Turning around, he found that Harry had buried his head in the pillow and Severus was afraid of what he'd find. While that wasn't a comfortable emotion, he was more concerned with what the other man was feeling.

"Harry?"

The man looked up, a startled look on the tight face. Those green eyes, though, were dull and flat looking, most unlike their usual sparkling and emotional appearance.

"What is it you want, Severus?" Harry asked, his voice echoing what his eyes were showing.

Severus directed a steady look at him. "What do you want to happen?"

"Happen?" Harry asked.

Severus nodded slightly. "You want something from me, and I would like to know what you are going to do about it."

Harry sighed, and Severus thought he wasn't going to answer.

"I want to be with you for as long as you want me," Harry replied in a quiet, unsure voice. "To talk to you like we did last night. And to kiss you. And argue with you about Sirius and Dumbledore. And...."

Severus watched as Harry's shoulders slumped as silence stretched through the room. He didn't know what to say for the first time in his life. He had never been confronted by such a serious, *personal* hope? - dream? Severus wasn't sure what to call it. All he did know was that something inside him thawed.

The bed shifted and Severus looked up to find Harry getting off the bed and grabbing his robe.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, and Severus wasn't quite sure if he actually heard tears in his voice or not. "You don't want the same thing." The robe was half-buttoned. "I'll leave then." All the while Harry kept his face turned away from Severus.

The robe was fully fastened and shoes were slipped on.

He was almost at the door when Severus went into motion, spurred by the fact that he was letting this... beautiful... thing slip between his fingers.

No. He would take Harry up on his offer, consequences be damned.

Sliding off the bed, he stalked over to the door and stood in front of Harry. Resting his hands on the man's shoulders, Severus leaned forward and rested his forehead on Harry's.

"Yes. I'm going to take you up on your offer," he whispered before brushing his lips over Harry's. As he responded, it was all Severus could do to not ravish him on the spot.

Making himself pull back, he saw that Harry was wearing a soft smile, and, letting his emotions show for the briefest moment, returned it.

******

Harry squirmed in his seat, anxious and nervous and all sorts of emotions that made him want to visit the bathroom to revisit his last two meals.

Today was Graduation Day. Capital letters. As in, it was also the day he and Severus were going to announce their relationship to the public.

Truthfully, though, it probably couldn't be that much worse than when Harry had told Sirius that he was dating Severus. _That_ had not be fun. At all. Harry cringed at the memory.

But, things in that quarter were much better, especially since Remus had threatened Sirius with something that neither man would tell Harry, but he could take a fair guess that it had something to do with Sirius having to sleep on the couch for the rest of their natural lives. No sex could be a powerful motivator at times.

Not that he and Severus had actually been doing anything like that.

Harry was proud of himself for keeping his hormones as reigned in as possible and keeping it in his pants. No, instead of going that route, both he and Severus had decided that they were going to take this nice and slow.

The bright side of announcing their relationship today was that it was the last agreed-upon step before they took that path, and Harry couldn't wait. In fact, his perverted and dirty mind had quite a long list of things he'd like to do to Severus' body, and he was very willing to start right in on it.

"And finally," Dumbledore was saying, "I'd like to congratulate the graduating class on an eventful seven years - " Harry felt most of the Great Hall's eyes on him " - and to wish you luck as you begin your next adventure."

Harry and rest of the seventh years stood and threw their hats into the air in the traditional manner, before slowly filing to their family and friends as the house-elves set up the buffet-style tables for food.

Winding his way to where Sirius and Remus were standing, Harry was stopped several times to meet his classmates' parents and to talk to various professors. Smiling and trying his hardest to be polite when all he wanted was to go find Severus, he eventually got to where he'd originally been headed. When he got there, he was pulled into a giant hug by Sirius and a more easy-to-breathe one by Remus.

"Look, Moony!" Sirius was saying. "Our little Harry, all grown up!" He gave a fake sniffle and wiped an imaginary tear away.

Remus sent a Look at Sirius before turning to Harry. "Today's the big day, isn't it, Harry?"

He nodded, ignoring Sirius' scowl. "Sev said that he'd come get me after he'd talked to the Slytherins. After that, he's all mine." Again, he ignored Sirius' antics as he added fake gagging to the show.

"Well. That makes me feel a lot better," came Severus' voice from behind Harry, sending a little shiver down his spine at the sound. The man's voice had caused Harry many emotions over the years, but it was this tone that he liked the best, even if his body tended to physically react to it.

Harry smiled and grabbed his hand.

As he did, silence fell over the couple of groups that had been standing next to them. It grew when the others saw what had shut the others up.

Harry smirked inwardly as the Slytherins' jaws dropped, the Ravenclaws' studied them carefully to see if this was a joke or not, the Hufflepuffs were either flushed or wishing to run away from the sight that their Potions Professor was actually human. 

But the best.... Oh, the reactions of the Gryffindors. Harry's classmates had known he was seeing someone, but never in their entire lives would they have guessed it was *Snape* of all people. SNAPE!

Well, Hermione and Ron were the exceptions, as the two of them were shaking their heads. Whether it was in embarrassment for Harry or exasperation at his bold outing, he wasn't sure which.

Dumbledore broke the silence as he strode up to them.

"Ah, Severus, Harry. I see that you've decided to quit hiding," he said with a sly wink.

Harry wrinkled his nose as Severus glared at the headmaster. 'Really, that man is impossible sometimes,' Harry thought as the crowd began to quietly talk, still unsure if anything else was going to happen.

Dumbledore winked at them again, repeating the action for Sirius and Remus before making his way over to the table that held the Muggle candies. Once he was gone, Harry smiled at Sirius and Remus.

"I'll see you tomorrow, right?" he asked, reminding the two men that they'd promised him a trip to Godric's Hollow, where'd they started to restore his parents' old house.

Nodding, Remus dragged Sirius out of the hall before he could say anything he wasn't supposed to.

Turning to Severus, Harry gave the man a bright look.

"Ready?"

Severus nodded, an almost imperceptible smile hovering on his lips.

Smiling, Harry made his way out of the Great Hall, Severus' hand in his. After all, they had some personal business to attend to.

*******

End.

Yes, I know it's pretty sappy, but I'm blaming that on the fact that I was ambushed, by one of my friends from work, to watch the first Tenchi Muyo movie with her before dragging myself home.


End file.
